malbec grapes

Are you also in Argentina? If not, I would not expect quality wine grapes after being shipped that far.

Try finding grapes closer to home, or buy the juice.

About 1.2 gallons US; if these are shipping across a border and get held in Customs you may not be happy in the end.

Joe

There is a supplier here in New Jersey who gets both juice and grapes from Chile. I usually get just juice but have not heard of any problems with grapes. Then again he buys a few container loads at a time so its never held at customs. Malbec is a fine grape. I make 12 gal of it each year. Also try Carmemere.

Tom

I would not let what Axis said stop you from trying them. Many of us have made or still make wine from grapes grown in the Central Valley of California and shipped via refrigerated truck to the East Coast. All of us by vegetables grown all over the world, including South America. A lot of us have even bought fresh roses grown in places like Guatemala.

Personally, I would go for it and I have considered doing so myself. I do not know of very many sources for Malbec grown here in the US.

The grapes may be high brix and the juice yield may not be what one normally gets from lower brix wet climate areas (like the East Coast) so the best you can do is get an idea of the range. I would think you can get easily get a gallon from about 14 pounds of grapes. If it works out, you have the advantage of making the wine in the spring instead of waiting for the fall. If you go for it, be sure to give us some feedback on your results.

Joe, those Central Valley California grapes that I believe we have both used to make wine are excess grapes that the wineries in California could not use. At least this is what S&S, a distributor who sells the grapes in Baltimore told me.

I bought some Riesling juice from them this year. When I got it home it was already about 25% fermented in the pails. This means that they have probably been held in cold storage in California for a period of time BEFORE shipped via refrigerated truck to the Eastern US.

I do not think the grapes from Chile would be of any less quality. In fact they may be better if they are flown cold via Air Cargo direct.

When I visited Guatemala a few years ago, I visited a huge ranch that grows ROSES and air ships them to huge markets in the US. Produce grown south of the equator does not mean that it takes the slow boat through the Panama Canal.

No, true. Here in the UK we get table grapes from Chile (out of N Hemisphere season) every year. I suppose the main difference there is that it matters less if table grapes aren't vine ripened..?

Jim

(snip)

Bought grapes from S&S

three years ago but it is my understanding that they weren't getting their grapes from the Central Valley any longer. That might have changed. I've been buying Central Valley grapes - Lodi - with the Washington Winemakers for the last two years with good results. Here are some of the grapes we brought home... BTW, I like the new plastic boxes - they collapse, are recyclable, and they reusable. We are going to use them this year to harvest some Pennsylvania grown grapes at my in-laws vineyard.

Didn't mean to help hijack this thread - I haven't used the malbec grape yet but I do know that buying grapes that are shipped 3000+ miles in refrigerated trucks works just fine.

Steve

Generally, it does work fine. My bad experience this year was from the juice I bought this year.

For the reds, my best results have been blending them with local area grapes out here in the Maryland / Northern Virginia area. The juice I bought in 6 gallon buckets had the logo "Lodi Gold" so I assume that is their source. Lodi is in the Central Valley.

Where are you buying the grapes that come in the plastic boxes. They indeed do look good - besides, I need a few more lugs for my back yard vineyard.

F. Colavita & Son

Check the Local Distributors link.

Steve

Thanx Steve. I may check them out this year.

To be honest the grapes we get in from Pittsburgh are not excess, the businesses are set up to supply home winemakers. They are lesser quality to be sure but wineries want their grapes by the ton and juice by the tanker. Places like California Concentrate sell it that way too so maybe that is what S and S meant.

I was thinking about how hard it is to get an answer about bringing grapes across the border from Canada; if you are bringing small quantities of anything fruit related across and you get the wrong Customs person it's 3 stooges time.

If a vendor is arranging it the paperwork would be in order so you are probably right on, I may have been overreacting. Chile and Argentina make great wines, I would give it a shot if I could look at the grapes before buying.

Joe